Jersey gets past Triad

Published
12:00 am CDT, Friday, October 10, 2014

JERSEYVILLE - On a night where the field was engulfed in water and conditions were more suited for a truck and tractor pull, more times than not, turnovers usually tell the difference between winning and losing.

For The Jersey Panthers, winning the turnover battle and coming up with key defensive stops made all the difference, and propelled the Panthers to a third straight victory.

Jersey turned two Triad second-half fumbles into touchdowns. The final one determined the outcome late in the fourth quarter on Jake Varble’s 20-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Devin Outman with 2 minutes, 44 seconds remaining in the Panthers’ 26-20 victory over the Knights Friday night the District 100 Sports Complex.

The Panthers (5-2 overall and 3-1 in Mississippi Valley Conference play), won the turnover battle, where they were plus-2 and even more importantly, they didn’t turn the ball over on a night where there was continuous rain that made holding onto the football really tough.

And against Triad, which dropped its third straight and fell to 4-3 overall (1-3 in the MVC), stopping the run was crucial for a Panthers defense that has had its moments this season.

“Our kids just find a way,” Jersey coach Dave Jacobs said. “I was really proud of our special teams. I thought special teams was the difference tonight. They had the snap over the head, which really helped us and we had some really good punt returns. Our defense played well.

“We’re going to enjoy the win. Wins are hard to get. We’re playoff-eligible now. We’re sitting well in the conference. I’m proud of the boys.”

Varble, who was 10 of 23 for 109 yards and three touchdowns, came out firing early on as Jersey scored on its opening drive, which culminated in Brandon Baalman’s 1-yard run. Then Varble threw touchdown passes of 2 yards to Crick Kimble in the second quarter, 1 yard to Brendan Kennedy after Triad snapped the ball over their punter’s head and Jersey recovered at the Knights’ 3. He then completed the scoring late when he found a wide open Outman down the right sideline after the Panthers recovered another fumble off a Jersey punt.

“We saw the forecast coming in and we knew Triad was a tough team running the ball in this kind of weather,” Varble said. “We just tried to take every opportunity we can. We didn’t play the best we can, but we played well enough to win and that’s all that matters.”

Varble came out hit, going 7 of 10 for 75 yards but were stymied until given short fields to work with after two Triad turnovers.

“Conditions were tough, but throwing the ball definitely gave us the upper hand,” Varble said. “We had a rough time getting our running game going. We just tried keeping it mixed and keeping them on their toes, but everything ended up OK.”

In a game where Triad seemed to counter each Jersey score and didn’t allow the Panthers to go up by two scores, the Panthers’ defense, led by Kennedy and Michael Lorton, stood tall at the end when the Knights had a chance to win it with a late touchdown and extra point.

Jersey did allow two touchdown passes by Triad quarterback Alex Crehan. One went to Steven Evanoff for 41 yards in the second quarter and another came in the fourth quarter to Adam Nelson for 53 yards that tied the game 20-20. But late, Jersey’s defense did not give the Knights’ offense any hope of pulling off the win.

“We had to stop their run and eventually, stop their pass,” Lorton said. “We knew if we can get into their backfield, penetrate and just play hard, we could have success. That seemed to do it. The turnovers were crazy big.”

With the Panthers being playoff-eligible, the incentive is to keep winning, with road games to finish the season at rival Civic Memorial next week and at Mattoon to close out the regular season.

“I like where we’re at obviously,” Jacobs said. “We’re at CM next week and the kids will be up for that. … We’ve got two on the road and we’ll line up and play.”